pcmforless vs. madz28 - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

IROCZBeast · 12-22-2005, 08:48 PM

I want to send my pcm out for a tune. I was wondering if anyone has ever used either one of them and what they thought about either one. Price wise, performance wise etc...

Thanks.

bad64chevelle · 12-22-2005, 08:49 PM

Neither. PM Jon Prevost (Fasterthanyou) and you will not be disappointed.

badzracing · 12-22-2005, 08:49 PM

FOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best tuning and prices EVER! Bill's da man.

badzracing · 12-22-2005, 08:50 PM

My fault........I don't think Bill tunes lt-1's. Fasterthanyou is the man for that.

IROCZBeast · 12-22-2005, 08:53 PM

I think fasterthanyou only does OBDI.

bad64chevelle · 12-22-2005, 08:54 PM

hmmm...thats right youre obd II....i dunno PM either Foff or Fasterthanyou and one of them i think can get you squared away...

Frosty · 12-22-2005, 08:58 PM

I have Bryan's tune(pcmforless) and it worked WONDERS! He's also a wiz with the LT1's as well. He's HUGE within the Impala/Caprice world.

He nailed my car dead on(granted I only have minor boltons). It really woke the car up after the headers.

IROCZBeast · 12-22-2005, 09:07 PM

I've spoken to foff already, he was a big help.

But he only has LS1 software.

Squirrel · 12-23-2005, 12:12 AM

you cant go wrong with either, ion is cheaper....thats about the only diff.

foff667 · 12-23-2005, 12:20 AM

I'd love to tune on LT1's but the fact is I can't offer pricing for less then madZ28's...$125 for a full mail tune is hard to beat. I can pound it into peoples head that it wont be near as good as a true tune but in the end its up to the owner to make that determination. I couldnt take a $400 hit for all new software unless I know I'll be able to make my money back

foff667 · 12-23-2005, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirrel

you cant go wrong with either, ion is cheaper....thats about the only diff.

if you meant jon is cheaper, jon doesnt have the software for any obd2 cars that i know of so he'd be in the same boat as myself.

foff667 · 12-23-2005, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badzracing

FOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best tuning and prices EVER! Bill's da man.

sometimes its hard to beat the price of a mail tune...but if you've ever actually looked one over you'd shake your head

Squirrel · 12-23-2005, 12:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by foff667

if you meant jon is cheaper, jon doesnt have the software for any obd2 cars that i know of so he'd be in the same boat as myself.

ion = mad z, thats his name...ion and brian/alvin's mail tunes are spot on and you cant beat the price, unless you have heavy bolt ons or a power adder they will get you damn near to what you can get with a personal tune

foff667 · 12-23-2005, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirrel

ion = mad z, thats his name...ion and brian/alvin's mail tunes are spot on and you cant beat the price, unless you have heavy bolt ons or a power adder they will get you damn near to what you can get with a personal tune

Depends who you ask E, but I'll tell you what take a look at some of the "pro" files i have and tell me if you'd want one in your car. Most are complete hacks...for instance a guy on another board had me look at his mail tune from a well known ls1 vender, high & low octane wot cells were the same meaning little to no protection against knock, front o2 sensor codes deleted, fuel tables untouched and thats just the start. Im not gonna say they've never guessed very well, but thats all a mail tune is, a guess.

Squirrel · 12-23-2005, 12:44 AM

first time ive heard that bill...the cz28 guys swear by ion and the speed density boys live for the pcm4less guys...i dont think ive ever heard someone be disappointed by either one of their tuneus

foff667 · 12-23-2005, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squirrel

i dont think ive ever heard someone be disappointed by either one of their tuneus

Disappointed & safe are two different things. & Keep in mind 99% of THOSE people have never had the opportunity to go through & view their tune either. Out of site out of mind, but ive seen so many shady things in both dyno tunes & mail tunes I wouldnt trust em. I personally don't do mail tunes because of the fact that its just a guess, an educated guess yes, but still & all a guess. I could easily make the harnesses needed & charge $30 for a tune since I could just make up some generic starter tunes that would get it close, but every car is different & reacts different. Just by adding 1-2* of timing in most cases will net enough hp on a dyno to make people happy & deleting TM or changing part & wot shift points will give you that seat of the pants feel, thats only a tiny part of tuning, but its where people get the most smiles from. Getting a large cam to idle & startup under all conditions, making sure the car is shifting where you want it to shift, dialing in your a/f to a safe but good #, eliminate or ease bucking from larger cams...this is all stuff that is VERY hard to do without seeing the car.

JL8Jeff · 12-23-2005, 07:24 AM

Bill, you should see how many 96-97 OBDII LT1's are looking for a tune and you might be able to work the cost of the license into the tune for a group of guys. I'll probably be looking for something after my car is back up and running with the headers and IROCZBeast has a 96 as well.

foff667 · 12-23-2005, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JL8Jeff

Bill, you should see how many 96-97 OBDII LT1's are looking for a tune and you might be able to work the cost of the license into the tune for a group of guys. I'll probably be looking for something after my car is back up and running with the headers and IROCZBeast has a 96 as well.

I tried that a couple of months back but people were asking me if I can do it for less then $175 or what have you...the fact is I cant compete with a mail tunes cost, but you'll always have better results when the person is there with the car. All I asked at the time was the commitment of (2) lt1 people & I would tune them for $200/ea which would cover the cost of the software/hardware needed to tune meaning I wouldnt make a dime on either of those cars but I would gladly put in 2 days of tuning for them since it is a Hobby & I love to tune cars. But it would take a commitment since I just cant plop down $400 or 500 for some software in hopes that 2 people will eventually want tunes(been there done that). The only good thing about obd2 lt1's is that its very similar to ls1's in how they operate so dialing in a good tune isnt difficult.

foff667 · 12-23-2005, 08:01 AM

& to clarify for you Eric I personally have nothing against pcm for less...I've never seen one of their tunes, but i have seen a 1/2 dozen of pro tunes & know how most of them tune and its pretty typical across the board.

slasherbarb · 12-23-2005, 08:24 AM

Would pay $200 for a tune, just not right now...after my headers, gears, etc i will be looking for a tune...maybe come next spring...

coldkilla · 12-23-2005, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slasherbarb

Would pay $200 for a tune, just not right now...after my headers, gears, etc i will be looking for a tune...maybe come next spring...

goes for me too, ive got pcmforless tune now but id pay 200 for a live tune but i want to complete a few more things first. i have a 93 obd1 lt1 tho.

slasherbarb · 12-23-2005, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coldkilla

goes for me too, ive got pcmforless tune now but id pay 200 for a live tune but i want to complete a few more things first. i have a 93 obd1 lt1 tho.

jon prevost can do it for you right now...he's equipped for obd1 cars...

foff667 · 12-23-2005, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slasherbarb

jon prevost can do it for you right now...he's equipped for obd1 cars...

if you can get ahold of him

I havent seen him in over a month now

NJSPEEDER · 12-23-2005, 02:51 PM

pamperedz got alvin to do the tune in his LT1 car and it is an animal now.

ar0ck · 12-23-2005, 03:44 PM

This is one thing I always tell myself about mail order tunes. They do the basic tunes on Test Mule cars and make the tune generic to specific mods (ie 3" cat back... do this). Not every car is the same...